


Separation Anxiety

by d-ama-ien (ama_janee)



Series: Separation Anxiety [1]
Category: Video Blogging RPF, Who Killed Markiplier? (Web Series), markiplier - Fandom
Genre: (no one is hurt I promise), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Multi, Sibling Arguments, a little bit, a lot of additional characters that are only mentioned, gun mention, some of the septicegos come for a little visit, the district attorney is referred to with they/them pronouns and just called District Attorney, the ships relating to Damien are touched upon but not a focus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-20
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-13 15:17:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21496387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ama_janee/pseuds/d-ama-ien
Summary: Damien felt different. His body didn’t feel quite right, like an ill-fitting suit. And then, he saw Celine. She looked as confused as he felt, and then her eyes widened even more when she looked over Damien’s shoulder.Damien felt his heart catch in his chest  when he turned to see what Celine was looking at. The District Attorney, his dearest friend when they were both alive, looking a bit worse for wear, but they were there. Just there, standing right in front of him like they had never died.A strange magic spell has caused Darkiplier to separate into his three components- Damien and Celine have somehow obtained temporary bodies, and the District Attorney has been put back into their own body. Among his own emotional turmoil, Damien has to hold Wilford and the other egos together in the "absence" of Darkiplier, while trying to find a solution that doesn't require sending the District Attorney back to the mirror. This task is a bit challenging with him also needing to protect the egos from Wilford's erratic behavior, as well as protecting the convoluted backstory of Darkiplier.
Relationships: Damien | The Mayor/Y/N | The District Attorney (Who Killed Markiplier?), Dr. Iplier/The Host, Kinda - Relationship, Wilford Warfstache | William J. Barnum | The Colonel/Darkiplier, darkstache, sorta
Series: Separation Anxiety [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1944955
Comments: 15
Kudos: 281





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a reworked version of another story I began posting a few months ago, but didn't actually make a plan for and ended up not liking it. This version is already complete, so it will be posted in it's entirety! I hope you enjoy.

Damien felt different. His body didn’t feel quite right, like an ill-fitting suit. He stared down at his hands- tan hands. He hadn’t been tan since he woke up, the grey pallor of his skin has been a permanent fixture. And then, he saw Celine. His beloved sister, in the flesh. In the flesh? She shouldn’t have any flesh to be in; they shared a body. She looked as confused as he felt, and then her eyes widened even more when she looked over Damien’s shoulder.

Damien felt his heart catch in his chest (when was the last time he had felt his heart?) when he turned to see what Celine was looking at. The District Attorney, his dearest friend when they were both alive, looking a bit worse for wear, but they were _there_. Just there, standing right in front of him like they had never died. 

“Damien?” Their voice was harsh, cracking like glass, but it was really theirs. 

Damien is about to reply, he isn’t sure what to say, but is interrupted by a raised voice from the other side of the room.

“The Host draws the attention of the three freshly separated beings, speaking for the entire group when he asks “What the fuck?”” 

Right, Dark had been holding a meeting in his office. And now, he wasn’t Dark. He was Damien. In his own body- but Mark had his body. Mark had his body, so what body was the one he was standing in? The crooked way the District Attorney held their head meant it was definitely their own body, the one Damien and Celine had been in for decades now, and Celine’s body should be hers, it easily could have come from the void. Damien decided he didn’t really want to know where the body he was inhabiting came from. Instead, he wanted to figure out what the hell had happened so it could be undone.

“Host. Didn’t your narration catch what happened? I thought you saw everything,”

“The Host does see everything, usually. He did not see this. Darkiplier was presenting, and then he became he, she, and they. Quite unusual,”

Damien huffed in annoyance at the lack of help from Host’s statement, knowing that if something had happened that slipped past Host’s narration, it was certainly no simple fix.

“Damien. Who are these people? _What_ have you been doing while I was sleeping?” Celine draws Damien’s attention with her ”I’m about to pull the Big Sister Card” voice, which doesn’t help clear any of Damien’s annoyance. He takes a deep breath, remembering that Celine and the District Attorney would be out of the loop, as well as all the egos, except for Host and Wilford, wouldn’t know Celine and the District Attorney. 

“Celine, District Attorney- these are some of the egos that are working with Wilford and me to deal with Mark. There’s Host, Google, Dr. Iplier, Bim, and Eric,” each ego nods in acknowledgment as Damien introduces them, “Of course, there are many more who weren’t here for the meeting, but you’ll meet them all in time. Eric, go get Wilford. He should have been at the meeting anyway, but he definitely needs to be here now,”

Eric nods, stuttering out an agreement before leaving to find Wilford. Despite Eric’s anxiety telling him otherwise, Wilford loved the kid and wouldn’t even raise his voice at him, so he was the best one to go drag an unwilling Wilford to the office.

“You both remember William, yes?” Celine and the District Attorney both flinch before nodding, “He goes by Wilford now, and is highly unstable. We have to tread carefully with this situation, I’m not sure how he’ll react,” Celine looks unhappy, and the District Attorney looks incredibly stressed. Damien can’t blame them, Wilford had killed them after all. He wasn’t going to tell them that Wil was even more trigger happy now than he had been back in the day, they didn’t need the additional stress.

“Everyone, this is my sister Celine, we share a mindscape, and our friend, my former District Attorney, they were trapped in a mirror by the demonic entity that helped us enter their body. So, Celine and I have been inhabiting it, with me in control and her sleeping in the mindscape we share. Now that we’re acquainted let’s try and figure out what happened. Google, pull up the video,”

Damien hated how his voice sounded, unused to hearing it without the strange ringing and echoes that accompanied his speech as Dark. His voice felt softer, less threatening. He was glad the egos still listened to him, found him as enough of a leader that he didn’t need to be demonic to be obeyed. Google’s eyes flashed with various colors before glowing bright white while he projected a screen in front of his chest. 

Everyone in the office stared as the image loaded, the time stamp in the corner indicating mere minutes earlier.

“Video playing at half speed,” Google announced, his voice taking on the more robotic tinge that always came when following orders. The image began to move slowly, Dark standing at his desk while Google and the others stood across from him. The video continued, showing a routine meeting with Dark lecturing as he read from the docket, and the others shifted at the edges of Google’s vision. Then, mid gesture from Dark, a vibrant green light lit up the screen, and when it faded, three people were standing by the desk instead of one. 

“Green,” Damien and Host both grumble at the same time.

“Google, how long was that flash in real-time?” Bim asks.

“Less than one half of a second,” Comes the reply, Google rewinding the footage and playing it back at full speed. The flash of light barely processes as a flicker, it’s no wonder no one had noticed it. 

“Green?” The District Attorney speaks, their voice causing Damien to wince. It sounds pained. Broken.

“Obviously, it has to be the-”

“Don’t. You know talking about them summons the glitch,” Google interrupts the doctor before he can finish his sentence. As living computers, Google and Bing are the least fond of the ego in question.

“Well, shouldn’t we summon them? If one of them did it, they have to undo it,”

“Undo. What happens to me when you undo it?” Damien stares at the District Attorney with wide eyes, unable to hide his surprise. He hadn’t even thought of what would happen to them, but it was clear that if Damien and Celine were put back, then they would be pushed out again.

“You would be sent back to the manor,” Celine answers, voice quiet and brow furrowed. Celine hadn’t stayed asleep the _full_ century that Damien was the primary controller of Dark. Though, he had never woke her up when around the other egos. The twins had taken time, a little less than a decade after the initial events that led to them becoming Dark, working together to try and find some way to save the District Attorney from the mirror. Efforts have proved fruitless, and it had been at least a few decades since their last attempt, unable to find any new mystical leads. Sending them back to the mirror was effectively an eternal sentence. 

“But, if whatever happened to you all is unstable, failure to reverse the spell could lead to a total decay of all three of you,” Host’s statement earns shocked stares from everyone in the room.

“What do you mean?” Damien demands, eyes dark as he stares at the bloodied bandages covering Host’s eyes.

“It is highly likely that the spell canceled the magic that operated as your life force. That magic was essentially glue; it held the body together, along with holding multiple consciousnesses inside it. Stripping away that bond created three unstable entities- a living dead body, a body pulled from the void, and a placeholder. Unlike the “glue” that allowed you to function, this magic is probably not intended for the long term. Attempting to stay in this state long term will likely cause all three entities to decay, as it was perhaps not designed to support life force like the original magic was, the Host explains,” The explanation barely clears up any confusion.

“So you’re saying- with the original magic missing, we’re three bodies that shouldn’t exist and have nothing to support our existence, which will lead to us all ceasing to exist. So, we either all take the risk of ceasing to exist in an undetermined amount of time, or we undo the magic and doom our friend to their own personal hell?” Celine’s concise version makes more sense, but Damien is still a little lost. He has literally never understood what was going on on the functional side of things. He only knew how to control the void, to an extent, and how to wake Celine up if needed. The actual magic behind their situation was lost on him. 

“Yes, at least, that’s my theory, the Host says,” 

“Alright, alright, I’m here! What’s the big fuss about-” Everyone in the room jumps when the door slams open, Wilford dramatically announcing his presence before freezing upon seeing the three people who formerly made up Dark.

“Wilford. I’m afraid there’s much to explain,” Damien sighs as he prepares to deal with whatever outburst this situation will cause.

“Damien. You, you really-”


	2. Chapter 2

“You really brought them back!” Damien expected a lot of things from Wilford, but a hug was not one of them. “Celine, the District Attorney, they’ve finally made it here!”

Wilford didn’t have a full understanding of Dark’s situation. He knew it was Damien, he knew Celine wasn’t around, he knew the District Attorney wasn’t around, but he didn’t know any of the body tradings or exactly what Damien and Celine had gone through with Mark. Wil had obviously already not been found of Mark and was more than on board when Damien told him his intentions, even without knowing the motivations.

“You’re… excited? You’re excited to see them,” Damien tests Wilford, carefully making sure he isn’t going to snap when he processes the people in the room.

“Of course! Why wouldn’t I be excited, it’s been a century since I saw them last. I mean, you’ve been telling me for years that they may stop by sometime, and you finally arranged it! All the friends, back together,” The look on his face and tears in his eyes suggest that Wilford is feeling more than just excitement, but Damien doesn’t dare push. He doesn’t need Wilford to get into a stabby mood. 

“Right. Well, they’re busy people after all,” Damien doesn’t know what to do, the answer feels like it should be so simple, but complications are piling up. Maybe, just maybe, enjoying some time with Wilford and the others wouldn’t hurt? The magic fueling them can’t be so weak that it would come unraveled in less than an hour, right?

But what if it is? What if every second he stalls brings the three of them closer to their deaths? 

“Sir, I’ve run some calculations I would like to discuss with you,” Google draws Damien’s attention with his usual disinterested voice. “In private would be best,” 

Can Damien leave Wilford unsupervised? Celine should be plenty capable of keeping her former lover under control, but she had just woken up from a century-long nap and was in control of a body for the first time in just as long. And he was none too thrilled at the idea of leaving the District Attorney out of his sights with Wilford. When he had left the District Attorney in William’s presence last time, they had gotten shot.

They weren’t with his egos last time. The Host could keep everyone calm for a few minutes, at least. 

“Of course, let’s step out into the hall,”

Damien had never felt so anxious to be away from anyone before as he and Google left the room, shutting the door behind them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really short for the sake of some POV changes. Next chapter coming 11/27 (as long as I remember to post it)


	3. Chapter 3

The room was dead silent the moment Damien and Google left.

“Wilford, you know these people?” Dr. Iplier is the first to speak up, ignoring Host’s glare and the gasps of surprise he earns from Bim and Eric.

“Well, of course I do! I grew up with Damien and Celine after all,” the Host nervously runs a hand through his hair upon hearing Wilford’s response. The man’s usual slur is far less pronounced, sounding more clipped and professional. “Unfortunately I didn’t have the pleasure of making the acquaintance of the District Attorney until later in life, but they’re a good person, an absolute joy to be around, you’ll see,”

The District Attorney flinches when Wilford wraps an arm around their shoulder, whether from pain or fear is uncertain. Celine scans the egos in the room slowly, trying to figure out how safe they were, if they knew anything about the specifics of the situation. It was evident that the man in the blindfold had more intimate knowledge of the situation than the others did, but he seemed more cryptic than actually helpful.

The man dressed as a doctor and the man in the suit, Celine knew Damien had introduced them, but a lot was going on and remembering names honestly wasn’t her priority, they seemed utterly clueless, and the other one looked on the verge of tears. So, cryptic one it was. 

She kept an eye on Wilford as she walked over to the man, keeping her voice low as she addressed him, “What do you know about this?”

“Everything,” she sighs as he gives an entirely non-helpful answer, “The Host is a narrator, he has seen everything relating to the story of the seer and her group of friends and lovers, in fact, he knows the events better than any of those involved do,”

“And does he know how stable William is going to be until we get this all figured out? Or maybe how long we have until the magic starts disintegrating?” 

“The Host cannot speak towards Wilford’s stability, Wilford breaks the patterns of the universe to the extent that the Host can only see his past and present, but have no inclination towards a possible future. Based on his current attitude, he should be stable as long as he has one of you in his presence. As for the time the magical entities have, that is what Google is calculating and discussing with Damien now. Darkiplier, and thus Damien, is our leader, we will do whatever he decides is best regarding this situation,”

Why Damien had to go and get himself tangled up with William and a group of insane men who all shared Mark’s face was completely beyond Celine, but she had to rely on him being clear-headed enough to make the right choice to get them out of this mess. Unfortunately, she knew her little brother well enough to tell that anything relating to the District Attorney would prevent him from making logical choices. It was easy to see how much they had meant to Damien when they were alive.

Plus, whatever he and William had now that they had been alive and working together for a century, that would undoubtedly be a complication as well. Damien had always been one who believed in listening to his heart.

“Celine!” The woman in question turns towards William, cold and closed off eyes meeting his warm and open ones. The District Attorney stumbles as William drags them over to her. “It’s so good to see you. I know we didn’t end on the best note, and for that, I owe you an apology. Could you find it within yourself to forgive me?”

Celine wants to withhold her forgiveness, close off William for all eternity. Still, she notices the way he’s holding the District Attorney, his arm wrapped around their neck, dangerously close to a position where he could close off their windpipe, and she forces a fake smile onto her face. “Of course I can forgive you,”

She’s glad he releases the District Attorney then, though she wishes it wasn’t for him to wrap his arms around her instead. She wraps her arms around him, watching as the blindfolded man grabs the District Attorney and pulls them to stand next to the nervous man, muttering something to him before leaving the District Attorney there and stepping into the hallway.

“So, uh, Celine, was it? Got any stories about Dark from the olden days? He and Wilford always get pissy when we ask, but we’ve been wanting some dirt on him for ages,”

William releases her when the man in the suit addresses her.

“It’s not me that gets pissy, I’m more than happy to share some stories! Darling Darkiplier, on the other hand, he just despises sharing. Well, Celine, anything to spill about your darling little brother?”

It seems as though he doesn’t realize that she was apart of the Darkiplier entity, which is probably for the best. 

“Oh, well he was quite the party monster in university, it’s a shock he managed to graduate with how much he drank and partied during those years,” she tried desperately to avoid any topics that would set William off, and belatedly realizes that parties may not have been the best topic in that case. 

“That’s one that our attorney would need to speak to, I’m afraid I wasn’t around during his university days,”

Celine catches the doctor dramatically whisper “He went to university?” to the man in the suit, who only shrugs. It makes sense that Damien wouldn’t have shared any stories of his time as Damien since all these men seemed to only know him as “Darkiplier.”

“Well, any university stories?” Celine prompts the attorney, who slightly shies away from the attention.

“Uh, he’d probably hate that I’m going to share this one, but how about this one Halloween party, I believe it was 1918? If I recall my years correctly, it should have been around that time. Da- uh, Dark, he came from a very proper family, so he wasn’t used to having anything more than a glass of champagne or wine to drink. He was a total lightweight, I bet he still is today, but when he first started partying he could get trashed in minutes. So, it was a party on Halloween night-”

Celine zones out as the District Attorney reminisces, she doesn’t need to hear any stories of her brother being a sloppy drunk. She keeps an eye on William, thankfully he seems to be pretty calm right now, listening and laughing with the others.

Celine continues to half-listen, just praying that Damien will return quickly and actually have a solution.


	4. Chapter 4

“It would probably be best if we keep this short, who knows what Wilford will do if we leave him unattended,” Damien says as he and Google step out of his office.

“Understood, sir, but I felt it would not be beneficial to discuss my calculations in front of him or the other two parts of Darkiplier,” Google explains with his usual disinterest. Once given admin permissions, he immediately became a pain in the ass to deal with. Still, he, fortunately, seemed to harbor respect for Darkiplier that he didn’t hold for the others. And, if that respect transferred over to Damien, all the better.

“Have you calculated how long the magic is going to last?”

“I’ve calculated a few possibilities. Magic isn’t my area of expertise, after all,” Google explains as he projects a small screen, this one running numbers so quickly that Damien can’t even read any before they change.

“Unfortunately, the numbers suggest that Host is correct about this magic not being stable enough to support the three of you. There’s less than a twentieth of a percent chance that all three of you will continue to live indefinitely. Now, the length of time isn’t my most accurate prediction, but accounting for any errors, I would say you have no less than two days but no more than two weeks of guaranteed life force. There is a possibility that the death of one entity could redirect that magic to sustaining both of the other entities, but I doubt that is an acceptable solution,”

“It certainly isn’t. It’s basically the same as just calling the culprit here and having him undo it, that would be killing the District Attorney to let Celine and I live,”

“I’m sorry to tell you this sir, but that is the only path that has a 100% guaranteed outcome, and is also the outcome with the lowest amount of casualties. Every other pathway leads to the risk that two or more will cease to exist,” 

Damien runs his hand through his hair, finding himself wishing he had his cane to fuss with. 

“Hey, Google, hey- Who are you?” Damien can’t help but groan when he hears Silver Shepherd greet them, he doesn’t need every damn ego in the house to know all the details of his backstory.

Damien turns to face Shepherd with a scowl, the superhero persona flinches away immediately. “Darkiplier, sir! But, uh, you look- different. Did Mark change his hair again?” Shepherd asks with a nervous laugh.

“It’s nothing that concerns you, Shepherd. Don’t you have a patrol to attend to?”

“Oh, gosh, you are completely right, sir! I’ll get right to that!” Damien feels a bit pleased with himself as he watches Shepherd sprint down the hall, turns out he doesn’t need the demonic aura to keep the egos in shape.

“Anyways, can you get me slightly more concrete numbers to work with? Having two days to fix things and having two weeks to fix things create some very different time constraints,”

“Of course, but the numbers aren’t certain enough to get more concrete outcomes. My suggestion would be to operate under the assumption that you only have two days from the initial separation to fix the problem. I would talk it over with the other two entities, I can explain the probabilities to them if you need,” 

Damien is about to reply when the door to the room opens, Host stepping into the hall and quietly shutting the door behind him. “Host, is everything alright?”

“The Host explains that everything is currently fine, the District Attorney is entertaining the group with stories of their and Damien’s university days, and Eric is looking out to keep Wilford separated from them so they won’t get hurt. The Host is under the impression that Celine will be able to hold her own against him,”

“The Host’s belief is completely right, last time a man pissed her off she threw an ax into his chest,” Damien almost smiles at the memory of his sister absolutely destroying Mark, “But what brings you out here?”

“The Host wants to share his opinion before Damien makes any decisions. He wants to remind Damien of the crucial role that Darkiplier plays in maintaining stability for the rest of the egos, and Host needs Damien to consider what it would do to the group of egos if he sacrificed the Darkiplier entity to avoid sacrificing someone else. Particularly consider how Wilford would respond to losing his friend again. The Host doubts he would have any semblance of sanity left, putting the safety of the egos and others at risk,”

“I don’t intend to sacrifice anyone, Host,” Damien snaps before catching himself and settling down, “I’m going to figure this out, without sending my friend back to their worthless existence trapped in a mirror inside a rotting manor,” Google and Host both frown at Damien’s outburst, but don’t say anything else.

“If that’s all you two have for me, then let’s just get the others and talk to them about the calculations,” Google nods, immediately going into the office. Host gives Damien a long look, Damien feels as if Host is narrating the very foundations of his soul before he shakes his head and follows Google into the office. Damien takes a moment to collect himself, calming down from his outburst. Damien doesn’t know much about the situation, but he does know he isn’t going to be the one who sends his friend back to that damned mirror. He rolls his shoulders back, carrying his head high as he returns to the office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next week's chapter is a little more than 3,500 words so I hope that will make up for these short chapters. That chapter should be going up Wednesday or Thursday next week!


	5. Chapter 5

Damien is glad there are no bullet holes in his furniture (or in any of the people in the office) when he returns to the room. The District Attorney had always been a good entertainer, Damien had gone to dozens of parties with them during election season, and they could steal the show when they wanted to. And that's what they had done here, halfway through what sounded like the story of Halloween, 1918. Of course, they would pick that one. Damien always swore the story was embellished, but the only parts of that night he could remember, unfortunately, lined up with the story the District Attorney told him, so he feared it was a pretty accurate description of the events.

"And you'll never believe what he said to this girl, he told her-"

"Alright, I think that is _more_ than enough of that story," Damien cuts off the District Attorney, he would never be able to keep the respect of the egos if they heard the remainder of that story. Especially since Bim would definitely tell the story to every ego that wasn't present in the office. Damien ignored the groans of disappointment from the others and stubbornly refuses to acknowledge when Wilford looks at Bim and says, "told you so," even though Damien wants to know what Wilford had said about him.

"Eric, Wil, would you be so kind as to go and start on lunch? There are a few additional mouths to feed after all," Damien hopes the smile on his face is convincing, even though he just wants to scream and tear his hair out in frustration. 

"Oh, of course! Listen, you two will be blown away by how this kid cooks, he's a master," Eric hesitantly smiles as Wilford affectionately grabs his shoulder, starting to pull the young ego to the door of the office. 

"We'll come to get you when it's ready," Wilford adds before leaving the room, Eric helplessly pulled with him. 

"Iplier, Trimmer, out. Make sure Wilford doesn't light anything on fire," Wilford's pyromania had mostly calmed down since the last fire-related incident, which had almost burned Eric, but Damien still didn't trust his friend's mental state. Bim mutters to the doctor as they leave, but at least he doesn't ask any questions.

"Google, could you explain everything you told me in the hall to Celine and the District Attorney?"

Google starts reciting the information he had given Damien, almost word for word. He included the warning that it was best to assume they only had two days, concluding that a course of action must be decided by the end of the day, so they had tomorrow to put the solution in action.

"Anything to add, Host?" Damien doesn't like the idea of what Host may tell them, but he's the most vital resource for knowledge of unknown things.

"The future is very uncertain, the Host explains, but as far as his Sight can see, the only reliable outcome is repairing Darkiplier and setting everything to normal. The Host believes that every other possibility is such as deviation from the proper timeline that he can't even see them properly," that was the same reason Host couldn't see Wilford properly. He broke the timeline to such an extreme extent he was impossible to predict. It definitely wasn't a good sign if that was what happened when Host tried to look at an option. 

"So, there are the facts that I've been given. I don't want to hide anything from you two, any choice affects you just as much as it affects me," Damien turns to face his sister and friend, his sister's mouth pressed into a tight line as she considered what the robot and cryptic man had said. 

The District Attorney, however, considered nothing. "Damien, this is ridiculous. You know you have to call whoever did this and put Darkiplier back together, there's no other option,"

Damien stares at his friend in shock, sputtering as he tries to think of a response. 

"You understand that you're willingly giving us your body and sending yourself back to the mirror if we do that?" Celine questions, taking the words from Damien's mouth.

"Of course. But the only other option is one that could lead to you both dying too, and I won't let that happen-"

"And I won't let you do this to yourself! I'm not going to put you in that mirror, not again," 

"Damien," Celine and the District Attorney nearly speak in unison, but they're interrupted by the door opening and Eric poking his head into the room. 

"Sorry to- uh, sorry to interrupt you, s-sir. Mr. Wilford wanted me to t-tell you that the food was ready…"

"We'll finish this later, let's just get some lunch," Damien orders, leaving the room before anyone can reply. He hears Eric rushing to follow him, but no other footsteps join theirs. The others will come eventually, and, hopefully, they'll be smart enough to avoid bringing up the conversation around Wilford or the others. 

Damien walks into the dining room, one of the largest rooms in the place. They just had one huge table that was big enough for everyone to sit at, it was rare that all the egos ate at the same time, but it did happen. The only egos sitting there when Damien and Eric enter are the Bim, Dr. Iplier, and Bing, who's eyes widen in shock. The androids automatically scan people for identification, and Bing's scan will tell him Darkiplier even with the slight differences between Damien and Dark. He knew it gave the androids a headache, so to speak, when their scan didn't line up with what they were seeing (it happened on plenty of occasions with all the egos sharing a face), but it wasn't like he could help it.

"Bing," Damien greets, taking his usual seat at the head of the table. The android sputters out his usual greeting, smartly hurrying to look away from Damien and quickly engaging Bim in an overly animated discussion. There were two seats squeezed next to Damien's on his end of the table, clearly intended for his other parts. Plates of food appeared on the table, drinks following shortly after, as Wilford finished up his cooking. He wasn't one for walking dishes to the room. Wilford himself appeared seconds later, sitting in his usual seat to Damien's right side. 

"Where are the others?" He asks immediately, glancing at the empty seats beside Damien.

"They'll be joining us soon. Have you invited anyone else?"

"I saw King, so I invited him, don't know if he'll come though. I didn't make PB&J after all," Damien smiles at the joke, noticing that what Wilford _had_ made was Damien's favorite meal from when they were young. He hadn't eaten it in ages, William had been the only one who ever made it, and Wilford didn't remember any details from their youth, much less whole recipes.

"Wil, you remembered the recipe for this?" Damien asks in surprise.

"Of course, you only asked me to make it all the time! How could I forget it?" Wilford answered casually, digging into the plate in front of him. Damien glances away from Wilford when he hears Celine's voice, glancing towards the open doorway as she and the others he left in the office join them in the dining room. Celine immediately makes a beeline for the seat on Damien's left, leaving the District Attorney to sigh and sit between Damien and Wilford. Celine's eyes widen as she stares at the familiar plate of food, but she doesn't say anything. 

Bim gets up, moving over a seat so Host can sit next to Dr. Iplier, and Google sits down next to Bing. Neither android has the need to eat, but both have the capabilities to process food if they choose to. Google doesn't really enjoy it, he only has capabilities like that to please humans, and he hates pleasing humans. Bing has the capabilities for the same reason, but he likes getting to do human things, so he digs in, pulling Google's plate over to him to eat that as well. The two androids are speaking, eyes flashing at each other, and occasionally making small humming sounds as they converse in a language no human can speak. Bim calls Eric to sit with him, telling the kid some story of his latest game show as Eric politely listens while eating. Wilford has engaged the District Attorney, asking about the story they had been telling earlier, and Celine glares holes in Damien's head while he studies an interesting mark on the table. Probably a score from someone stabbing the table, that was a pretty common occurrence. He'd have to ask Yan about it; she tended to prefer knives over other weapons.

"Damien, you haven't even touched your food! I taught Eric this recipe just so we could make it for you," Damien snaps out of his thoughts, facing Wilford slowly. His friend is grinning widely, too widely, eyes unblinking and slightly maniacal as they stare at each other. Damien holds eye contact as he picks up his fork, bringing a bite to his mouth. He barely even processes the taste, quickly swallowing it.

"It's delicious. Tastes just like when we were younger," Damien gives Wilford a genuine smile, Wilford's face dropping from the crazed look to a genuine smile.

"You flatter me Dames, but Eric made it better than I ever did," Wilford says with a laugh, Damien chuckling along with him. He forces himself to continue eating, the taste bringing back many memories of meals with William. Damien would rather not recall those meals, he'd rather not remember anything from their youth. The past was best left in the past, especially when it concerned Wilford, who got strikingly lucid, before getting horribly violent, when he started to remember too much.

"District Attorney, you know what I just realized, I never learned how you knew Mark," the room freezes when Wilford addresses the District Attorney. Even the lesser egos like Bing and Bim knew that anything relating to Mark was a highly touchy subject for the older egos. Damien hears Host's narration, the ego speaking louder and faster, but Damien doesn't notice any of the egos suddenly changing their behavior, so he doesn't know what Host is doing.

"I mean, Mark only invited his closest friends to the party, and I know you're close with Damien, but that wouldn't get you an invitation to that get-together," Wilford continued. He either didn't notice or didn't care how most of the people in the room stared at him in open-mouthed shock. Damien hears a loud and high pitched squeal. Usually, it would be his own aura making a sound like that, but currently, it seems to be Bing's speaker system glitching in fear. 

"Wil, do we really need to discuss that right now? Wouldn't you rather hear the rest of the story that they were telling you?" Damien suggested, keeping his voice as gentle and even as he could. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the Host covering his ears as he continued his unusual narrations. The District Attorney suddenly shoves their chair back, leaving no barrier between Damien and Wilford, but they look confused and startled by their own action. Celine backs away from the table as well, Damien can hear the scrape of her chair against the floor. The other egos are all tensed up, prepared to leap into whatever action the situation requires.

"I mean, that's a much funnier story. You always seem to enjoy laughing at my embarrassments," Damien holds onto Wilford's attention even if the man doesn't seem to be processing what Damien is saying to him.

"Grab him!" Host shouts, Damien's body going into action before his head can process the words. He lunges out of his chair, grabbing Wilford's right hand and pinning it to the table, holding firm even when Wilford's arm lurches, firing the gun that appeared in his hand a split second after Damien grabbed him. The other egos had, thankfully, all ducked under the table when Host shouted, so no one was at risk of being hurt at the second. Damien felt his body lurch without his input, he internally sighs as he realizes that Host has definitely taken control over his body for the moment. He hates the overpowered bullshit Host can do thanks to him not having a canon power set. And he hates that he knows precisely what Host is about to have him do, throwing himself onto Wilford's lap and pulling him into a bruising kiss, distracting Wilford long enough that the District Attorney could snatch the gun from his loosened grip.

Dark and Wilford had… something. This wasn't the first time Damien had kissed Wilford, not even the first time he had kissed Wilford to stop him from shooting someone, but it was the first time he had kissed Wilford in front of his sister, who had had an affair with the man he was kissing, along with his former ̶c̶r̶u̶s̶h̶ best friend being present. Host would be getting a nice long lecture about this later, Damien decides as he waits for the control to come back to his body. His face is getting wet, Wilford must be crying. That's unusual. Damien pulls away as soon as his limbs begin to cooperate with his thoughts, but he doesn't move from Wilford's lap, instead quietly comforting him. Wilford is a mess of emotions, but none of those emotions seem to be murderous, so Damien feels much better.

"Wilford, why don't you let Google take you to your room? I'll come up shortly, I promise," Damien whispers to Wilford, who absently nods. He's totally out of it now, tears streaming down his face, but his expression is totally blank, and he's not really responsive to anything going on around him. Damien stands slowly, helping Wilford up and walking him over to wear Google waits.

"Stay with him until I get there," Damien speaks to Google in a hushed tone, the bot nodding and offering an arm to Wilford.

The others in the room are slowly recovering from the scare, Bim and Bing both obviously shaken but putting their efforts into coaxing Eric out from under the table. The poor kid is curled up in a ball, shaking and crying from fear. Dr. Iplier is lecturing the Host, who is pressing his hands against his blindfold. The blood flowing from his sockets has completely soaked through the material, dripping down his face and all over his clothes. Damien pauses, remembering to verbally address Host. When he's gushing blood all over the place, he should not be using his Sight.

"The Host may have overexerted his Sight and other abilities, the Host offers as explantation. In his defense, he feels that seeing the outcome of the meal was of the utmost importance, even if it meant exerting the energy to see Wilford's actions with slight clarity,"

"And not to mention the energy needed to control the three of us," Damien adds dryly.

"The Host had to ensure that his vision came true, even if that meant forcing it to happen. The Host knows Damien is not an unwilling participant when it comes to kissing Wilford,"

Dr. Iplier interrupts before Damien can reply, sensing a brewing argument, "Host, we have to get you to the clinic, or you're going to bleed out. You may be fictional, but your blood supply isn't infinite, dumbass,"

Dr. Iplier begins dragging Host towards his clinic, Iplier is probably the only one of the group that Host would trust to drag him around when the Host can't see.

Bim and Bing seem to be making progress with Eric, the poor kid is starting to peak out between his arms. This is going to be a long process, maybe Damien should call Randal to come down, he and Eric were friends, right?

"Damien," Celine draws his attention, glaring daggers at him as she stands with the District Attorney, resting a protective hand on their shoulder. He notices they seem to be trembling, and they had dropped the gun they had taken from Wilford.

"Are you both alright?" he asks, walking over to them.

"What do you think?" Celine asks, glancing at the District Attorney's distressed face.

"I didn't think he would get violent, he was so calm. I'm sorry you had to see that. And I'm sorry you had to see… _that_," Damien flushes a bit, but he really feels like he owes them an apology for kissing Wilford, even if he didn't have a total say in the matter.

"Seriously, William of all people? I'm amazed at the sort of people you'll fall for," Celine sighs in disappointment.

"You fell for him too, in case you forgot about what started all this shit,"

"Don't act like it's my fault-"

"I didn't say it was your fault that this started, it's not like you knew Mark lived in a demon-possessed house, but that _is_ what started it-"

"You're ridiculous you can't be blaming me for-"

"That's enough!" The District Attorney shouts over the bickering siblings. "Damien, go calm him down, we'll go to your office and wait for you there,"

Damien and Celine both huff, but Damien listens, heading out to visit Wilford's room. He paused by Randal's place on the way there, asking the guy to go help Eric recover from his panic attack, but then it was time to take care of his friend.

He enters Wilford's room slowly, not wanting to startle his friend and trigger an outburst. Wilford is sitting on the edge of his bed, head buried in his hands, Google standing next to him holding a box of tissues, and looking very uncomfortable. His program wasn't meant for emotional assistance, that was more a Bing thing.

"Wilford," Damien addresses his friend, but he doesn't even lift his head. Damien uses his head to indicate that Google should leave, the android seems more than happy to comply, shortly leaving the two friends alone.

"Damien. What have I done?" Wilford looks up now, staring at Damien with tear-filled eyes.

"You didn't hurt anyone if that's what you-"

"I did! I have hurt people, I know I have. But I just, I can't get things straight, I don't know when it is, I don't know what's going on anymore," These lucid moments are never pleasant, for Wilford or Damien. Damien disliked looking back on things as much as Wilford did, but he at least understood the things he had done and been through. The trauma of the party had blocked Wilford's memories of a lot of violent details from the party, and sometimes he would remember what he had done but thought of the killer as someone separate from himself. Damien still isn't sure if Wilford knows he was the one who initially killed Mark.

"Wilford, it's alright. We've all done things we regret,"

"We haven't all killed people,"

"Well, a lot of us _here_ have definitely killed people," Damien wasn't one of those people, but he had always had a pretty strict moral code. Most of the people living in this house did not have a moral code of any sort. "Sometimes people do bad things, sometimes those things lead to death, but you can come back from all of that. I mean, you're getting better! Today is the first shooting incident in a week! You can change for the better, it takes work, but you can do it,"

Damien sits next to Wilford, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. Wilford turns to hug Damien properly, his mustache tickling where it touches Damien's skin.

"You should probably rest now, it's been a long day," Damien quietly suggests.

"No, I have to apologize, especially to the District Attorney,"

"They'll still be here when you're done, I promise. I'll set your alarm so you can join us for dinner, alright?" Wilford purses his lips, but nods, pulling away from Damien and standing, beginning to shed his clothes. Damien stands, fiddling with the alarm clock, setting it to wake Wilford up half an hour before their usual dinner time. Wilford slides under the covers once he's removed his stuffy clothing, and Damien turns to leave the room. He's stopped, however, before he can reach the door.

"Could you stay for a minute? I just… I just think I could use the company of a good friend," Damien's heart clenches, but he nods and turns back to the bed. He sits on the side, offering Wilford his hand to hold. Wilford's face softens, shutting his eyes and settling into sleep.

"Damien?" Damien hums softly in acknowledgment, glancing at his friend's face. "I've cared for you for a very long time, you know that, right?"

"I do. I care for you too," Wilford smiles softly, thankfully dozing off pretty quickly. Damien waits for Wilford's grip to loosen before he dares to stand and quietly exit the room. He lets out a deep sigh of relief once he has the door shut, knowing that things will be much calmer for the next few hours. All he has to do now is go and check in on Eric, check on Host (and avoid Dr. Iplier's wrath at the same time), and then work things out with Celine and the District Attorney. Easy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love writing Host doing ridiculously over powered things it's so fun. Also I know that darkstache kiss is a little grey area since Damien wasn't in control of himself but I hope I made it clear that Damien has no problems with kissing Wilford and even under those circumstances it's still okay.


	6. Chapter 6

Stopping by the dining room found that Eric was no longer curled under the table, and no longer crying, thank goodness. Damien offered his apologies, which Eric accepted with a shaky smile. Then he went to the clinic, where an empty mug was thrown at his head when he tried to walk in. 

“Was that necessary?” Damien shouts through the closed door.

“Did he throw a mug at you?” Host calls back, Dr. Iplier must have forbidden him from using his Sight for the time being.

“He did,” 

“Edward, that’s not fair, it isn’t his fault,” Damien figures it’s safe to enter now, and this time he only gets a glare from the doctor instead of anything being thrown at him.

“It’s not like I told Host to use his abilities like that,”

“Trust me, Host has already gotten his lecture. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to be mad at you for putting him in a position to overwork his abilities,” Damien thinks of replying how it isn’t even remotely his fault that any of this has happened. Thus, anything Wilford does as a result of this happening isn’t his fault, but he doubts Iplier will listen, so he decides not to bother.

“I just wanted to check and see how he’s doing,”

“The Host is fine-”

“The Host is suffering from some extreme blood loss,” the doctor interrupts his patient, glaring at him while telling Damien the details, “The bleeding has stopped, and he’s stable, but I’m keeping him here for the night, and he’s not allowed to use his Sight until tomorrow,”

“Which the Host feels it is unfair of Edward to force him into being truly blind,”

“And I feel that if Host wouldn’t push himself so much than he’d wouldn’t be at risk of killing himself by just using his sight, but Host had to go and narrate into an unstable future _and_ control three people in short succession, so either the Host takes a break or he bleeds to death,” only Edward would be so harsh while caring so much about someone’s well being. 

“Well, it seems like you have everything handled here. Will we see you both at dinner?”

“_Yes_,” Host responds, seeming to be telling Dr. Iplier as much as telling Damien. Damien makes his escape before the two can start bickering again, he has his own bickering to attend to. 

The District Attorney offers a weak smile when Damien returns to his office, but Celine just frowns at him. He sighs as he drops into his desk chair, going into a desk drawer to retrieve the files he’s looking for. One nice thing to come from this, at least, is that the pain that comes with living in a broken body is gone for the first time since the party all those years ago. He doesn’t even need to crack his neck when he sits back up straight, flipping through the file. A collection of known egos and some information on each of them. He quickly flips to the familiar section he’s looking for, opening to the page of the magician.

“The sep-”

“Don’t say that name out loud, saying the name of the ego group can summon their “leader,” and we do not want to deal with him until absolutely necessary,” Damien interrupts Celine before she accidentally summons the glitch. None of the ego group in question would like to consider the glitch their leader, but he was the most visible to the fandom, so he counted as the leader in their realm. Which would probably make Wilford their official leader, since he’s been around in that universe for longer and had held steady popularity through all those years, but canon made Dark fill that role. It was a weird system.

“Is this the leader?” the District Attorney asks, reading the information about the magician.

“No, but he _is_ who I suspect is responsible. He’s the only magic user from their group, and green is their color. Of course, there are individuals who are associated with green outside of this group, but none of them are as powerful as him,” The only other green one Damien could think of was the new one from Sanders, but Damien doesn’t think that he’s been around long enough to control his powers, and also this sort of spell would be impossibly tame for that particular ego. Wilford had found him hilarious, but Damien wasn’t a fan.

“So, are we going to be reaching out to him tomorrow?” Celine asks, skimming over the page once the District Attorney was done. The magician was similar to Host, in that he didn’t have a confirmed ability set yet, so he was ridiculously overpowered for the time being. Under “known abilities” was just an infinity sign, and Damien hated it. Host’s file had the same symbol.

“I haven’t decided yet,” Damien replies, and the District Attorney throws their hands up in frustration.

“We are! We’ll call him first thing in the morning and get this fixed,” they insist. 

“I told you, I haven’t accepted that as our final option-”

“And I told _you_ that I’ve made up my mind. Don’t I have the biggest say? It’s my body, right?” Damien huffs, knowing he can’t argue with that point.

“Damien, I appreciate that you don’t want to hurt me, and I know you’ve tried to get me out. I can wait forever if I have to. I’m not going to risk your or Celine’s safety, alright?” They reach out and grab Damien’s hand, intertwining their fingers with his. He absently brings their hand to his lips, kissing their knuckles tenderly. 

“For now, we’ll plan on contacting the cause of this tomorrow after breakfast. But, I’m going to continue looking for alternatives until then,” Damien relents, knowing his friend isn’t going to let him insist on protecting them at his own expense. 

“I’ll help with that, it may be easier to find something if we both have physical forms,” Celine says, standing to pursue Dark’s bookshelf. Damien had amassed a pretty impressive collection over the years.

“I think I’m going to find that Eric kid and ask if I can help with dinner, I haven’t gotten to cook in ages,” the District Attorney says, standing from their seat as well.

“The others shouldn’t try anything, but be wary of anyone that you haven’t met already. Some of them are a lot to deal with, but they’re mostly controlled. Eric will probably be in the living room, call for Google or Bing if you need anything, those two are the fastest,” the District Attorney nods in acknowledgment before exiting, leaving Damien and Celine.

They work in silence for a few minutes, quietly looking through Dark’s book collection, specifically his books related to the occult. Damien sighs as he plucks another book off the shelf, turning to face his sister.

“I really am sorry about all of this, Celine. I know this is as hard for you as it is for me,” Damien sincerely apologizes to his sister, he owes it to her for how cruel he was earlier.

“It really isn’t, I haven’t been fair towards you. I know how much you care for the District Attorney, it’s not easy to give them up now that you have them back. But you can’t go against their wishes, understand? If we don’t find something, you _will_ be summoning that magician, do you understand me?” 

“I can’t believe that after all these years you still act like a know it all big sister,” Damien jokes with a smile.

“It’s not acting if I do know it all,” Celine replies, “But seriously, Damien, I need you to _promise_ that you’ll summon him and let him put Darkiplier back together. Promise for me?” Damien can barely swallow the ball of guilt in his throat, but he grabs his sister’s hand and wraps his pinky with hers.

“I promise that I’ll fix this,” no fingers or toes crossed, he’s completely genuine. Celine smiles at him before returning to her search.

Neither sibling realizes how much time they had spent searching until the District Attorney returns to fetch them for dinner. They were no closer to an answer than when they started, but Damien’s office was a hell of a lot messier than when they started. He considered tidying up before breaking for dinner, but decided against it and just left with his sister and his friend. The mood was much lighter now, and he was honestly appreciative of the chance to spend time with them like this.

Wilford was already seated when they reached the dining room, Damien took the chair next to him this time. Eric and the District Attorney disappeared into the kitchen to get the plates, more egos filed into the room while they were dishing everything out. 

Some of the egos hadn’t seen Dark’s pieces yet, but gossip had circled the building and reached everyone. Damien furrowed his brows as the newest egos came in, he didn’t love the idea of any of them being privy to his backstory, especially Yancy with his fourth-wall-breaking tattoos, but they sat at the far end of the table and seemed to be doing their best to not look in his direction. Eric and the District Attorney set the table quickly, and soon all the people present were digging into a delicious meal.

Wilford was in a much better place this meal, able to talk to both Celine and the District Attorney without bringing up any sensitive topics or snapping. He does hold onto Damien’s hand for most of the meal, though, feeling much more touchy than what Damien would usually allow. Damien notices Dr. Iplier is very touchy with Host as well, overly doting when his boyfriend is injured. At least he let Host out of the clinic for the meal.

Damien has to stop the District Attorney from sharing overly embarrassing stories a dozen times. Celine joins in after a while, and between the two of them, they manage to get out one mildly uncomfortable tale. Damien can live with the one they shared, and they gave up once they got to share one. Unfortunately, Wilford shares an embarrassing story of Dark shortly after. This prompts Damien to share one of Wilford getting stuck in a too-small dress with too many straps because he had decided that sizing charts were irrelevant, and the dress looked stretchy enough.

“Okay, well, at least I looked good in the dress!” 

“Yes, especially since you were stuck in it for five hours until you let me cut the seam,” Celine outright cackles at that one, exclaiming, “I can’t believe you’ve done that more than once!” before slapping her hand over her mouth.

“I can’t help that dresses aren’t designed for my stunning figure,” Wilford flips some non-existent hair over his shoulder.

“Well, you could help it if you bought dresses in your size,” the District Attorney points out. For the first time in ages, Damien truly enjoys himself at a meal with all the egos. He really did miss his sister and friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update, it’s been a busy week. With Christmas being next Wednesday it may be late next week as well.


	7. Chapter 7

They spent hours at the table, Eric and the District Attorney bringing out tea and coffee and dessert as well. Dr. Iplier and Host were the first to excuse themselves, Dr. Iplier wanting to check Host’s eyes before the two of them turned in early. Eric and Randal left next, followed by the three newbies. Bing and Google both experienced a low battery warning an hour later, so they were forced to go and plugin for the night. The remaining egos trickled out slowly, until just Damien, Wilford, Celine, and the District Attorney remained.

Damien’s heart ached at the familiarity, but he was so happy at this moment that the pain of what had happened earlier and what was to come left his mind.

Soon, it’s far later than they realized, and upon checking the time, they decided it was time to get to bed. Wilford says his good nights, heading off to bed with a smile on his face.

“I’ll show you guys to the spare rooms,” Damien says, leading his sister and the District Attorney past all the occupied bedrooms until they finally reach some empty one.

“Celine, you can stay here,” Damien says, opening one of the rooms. Good thing they keep these rooms ready to be moved into at any moment. 

“Good night, baby brother,” Celine says, tone affectionate as she draws him into a hug.

“Good night, sister who is barely older than me,” Damien replies, earning a laugh before Celine shuts her door. 

“Damien, I’m sorry if this is overstepping any boundaries, but I was… I was wondering if I could stay with you tonight? I’ve been without the sense of touch for a very long time, I’d like to stay around people for as long as possible before I lose that,” the District Attorney offers their explanation shyly, looking like they felt guilty just for asking.

“Of course you can stay with me, I’ll show you to my room,” Damien’s heart twists imagining what it would be like to have not felt any touch for a century. They walk back to his room in silence, the comfortable kind of quiet you can only get from those you really care about. 

They get ready for bed in that same silence, Damien eventually getting under the covers on one side while the District Attorney gets into the bed on the other side. Damien reaches to his bedside table, shutting the light off as soon as they’re both settled in. 

Damien can hear the District Attorney shifting, they tug on the covers slightly as they move. 

“Hey, c’mere,” Damien says, voice cutting through the quiet. The District Attorney moves closer, snuggling into Damien’s touch when he wraps his arm around them. Being the big spoon isn’t the most comfortable thing, and Damien is rarely ever a big spoon anyways, but the gentle smile on his friend’s face and their happy sigh of contentment makes it worth it. Damien savors having his friend with him for a little while until sleep finally overcomes him.

Damien wakes up with bright sunlight streaming into the room, a loud noise had disturbed his sleep, he’s confused for a few seconds until there’s another knock on the door. Damien shifts a bit, unintentionally upsetting the half-asleep District Attorney.

“Yes?” Damien calls towards the door in response to a third knock.

“Breakfast is ready, sleepyhead, come down while it’s still hot,” it’s Wilford who answers him, it must be really late if Wilford had not only been awake but had also been productive.

“Be down in a minute,” Damien replies, releasing the District Attorney so they could start getting up. They stretch lazily, flopping back down instead of getting up. 

“C’mon, the food will be cold,” Damien nudges them in the side as he gets up, wandering to the bathroom to style his hair and brush his teeth. He sweeps his hair to the side, how he usually does when getting ready, but it almost feels alien. The last time that Damien had been himself, he had been a lumberjack with shaggy hair and an unkempt beard. Before that, an immaculately styled mayor who always kept his hair slicked away from his face. This modern look felt weird with his face. His own face looked weird with his face without the aura of Darkiplier, though, so his hair would just be weird no matter what. All of this was weird, and weird was starting to sound like gibberish the more Damien contemplated the weirdness, or lack thereof, of his current appearance. He sighed, running his hand through his hair once more before deciding to leave it alone, exiting the bathroom so he could stop contemplating his appearance. 

The District Attorney had made it to sitting up, but they hadn’t even left the bed.

“There’s an extra toothbrush under the sink, you’ll have to use my toothpaste though,” Damien tells them as he heads over to his closet to pick an outfit. They nod sleepily, slowing standing and making their way to the attached bathroom. They _really_ need some sort of caffeine in their system. Damien grabs a plain white button-up from the closet, changing into it quickly before putting on some black slacks. He was putting on his belt when the District Attorney returned from the bathroom, looking slightly more awake. 

“Dressing down today?” they ask. Damien had always dressed up more than he needed to, he might as well be wearing basketball shorts for how casual this outfit would seem in comparison to his usual mayoral attire.

“Something like that,” Damien replies. “I’m sorry we don’t really have any clothes for you to borrow,”

The District Attorney waves him off, unconcerned. “I’ve only got a few more hours in this anyways, don’t worry about it,”

Damien’s jaw clenches at the reminder of their plan. He had promised that if he didn’t fix it by this morning, they would call the magician after breakfast. And, he hadn’t found a solution yet.

Well. That was a problem for after breakfast. 

Wilford and Celine are the only ones at the table when Damien and the District Attorney get downstairs. There’s a teapot, and a pot of coffee sat in the middle, along with plates stacked high with typical breakfast staples. Wilford was really in a cooking mood lately if he had done this all by himself. 

Damien hears the Host and Dr. Iplier before they come into view, their conversation, and the undercurrent of Host’s narration growing louder. Host must be pretty well healed if Dr. Iplier was letting him use his Sight again. Breakfast is usually only Damien and those two, most of the egos had no reason to get up early, so they didn’t. Sometimes Mike would join them, but he was kind of eating his dinner since he would be sleeping for the day. He didn’t come today, probably had a run-in with Google, and was still recovering. Damien had hoped that exposure to their nice humanoid robots that didn’t kill children would help the guy, but it didn’t seem to be working quite yet. 

“Any interesting plans today?” Wilford asks, looking past Damien to the District Attorney.

“Actually, we’re probably going to be leaving later today,” Celine answers for them, Wilford frowns in disappointment.

“Leaving so soon? You’ve hardly even stayed!”

“Unfortunately, we have some things that need to be dealt with as soon as possible, we’ll make sure to say goodbye before we leave, alright?” Wilford still frowns, but he nods in answer to the question. Breakfast otherwise passes uneventfully, some egos coming just to grab some coffee before leaving, others hanging out for a bit while munching on some bacon. And then, Wilford had to go.

“Bim and I have the Jims set up for a shoot today, they need as much supervision as possible, or they’ll destroy the studio. Remember to stop by before you head out!” Damien hears a clatter from the kitchen when Wilford’s dishes disappear from the table, his friend disappearing shortly afterward. Damien feels like someone is staring at him, and turns to see the Host facing him.

“The Host is wondering if Damien plans to have their guests come to a conference room, or maybe his office? The living room could also be kept empty if Damien doesn’t want the guests near Wilford,” Of course Host had foreseen their plans for the morning.

“You’re right, anywhere near Wilford is a bad idea. We’ll have them come to the living room, I suppose,” Host nods in understanding, muttering something to Dr. Iplier before the two leave the room.

“Well? Are you ready?” Celine asks, moving to stand as well.

“As I’ll ever be,” Damien replies, getting up and leading them to the living room. It was the farthest room from the studio that Damien would be okay with having their guests in.

Google was there, looking positively murderous, and Host was there, with Dr. Iplier standing beside him, also looking a bit murderous. Dr. Iplier tended to look like that when he thought Host was going to push himself, and Google… well, Google looked murderous pretty often, but especially so when it comes to inviting the glitch over.

“You don’t have to be here,” Damien says to the android in question, but he shuts up when the murderous look is sent his way. 

“So, are we doing this?” the District Attorney asks.

“Well, about that-”

“Damien, if you’re about to suggest we try something else, I will slap you,” Celine threatens.

“Listen, I’m sure we can find a solution with some more time,” Damien is getting heated, glaring at his sister. He doesn’t even notice the District Attorney facepalming.

“We don’t _have_ more time! “

“I’m going to fix this, we don’t have to jump to reforming Dark,”

The District Attorney sighs loudly, drawing everyone’s attention. “I’m done with this bickering. Let’s get these Septiceyes here and get this over with,”

“What is wrong with you,” Damien snaps, trying to interrupt them before they successfully get the attention of the egos in question, but the high pitched laughter from the other side of the living room tells him he’s far too late.

“Well, what do we have here? It seems like the Iplier household is having some issues,” Anti sounds downright delighted, and he probably was. He loved when Dark was pissed off, after all.

“Anti. That wasn’t an invitation,” Damien glowers at the ego as he glitches closer.

“Of course it was. This sweet little one _very_ clearly said they wanted to bring the Septiceyes here, so here I am,” Anti grins at the District Attorney, who doesn’t look phased. They have their own neck related issues, so Anti’s open wound isn’t even disturbing to them.

“You’re not the Septiceyes though, you're the only one here,” Google points out, he’s always one to take things literally. He quiets down, though when Anti’s form glitches, remembering the damage Anti can cause just by being near his system.

“I have to say, Dark, it’s quite a pleasure to see you so disheveled. Glad that this issue knocked the stick out of your ass, it can’t have been healthy to keep it up there for so long,” Anti giggles with delight at Damien’s expression. Damien wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of responding to the stick comment.

“I thought that maybe you’d have matured since we last saw each other, but I see I was incorrect. My deepest apologies,” Damien couldn’t help the smug attitude when Anti was around, the damn glitch brought out the worst in him.

“You know, you’re not all that intimidating without all that spooky bullshit. I use intimidating loosely, of course,” Damien is about to retaliate with something about how he’s at least developed control over his abilities, but Celine steps forward and rests her hand on Damien’s arm.

“I think that’s enough catching up. We just want to speak to the magician,” Celine stares Anti down, the glitch turns his attention to her with a tilted head. Celine and Anti stare each other down, until Anti suddenly begins cackling, throwing his head back.

“Well, who am I to deny your request? I’ll be right back,” Anti disappears, flickering like an old VHS tape before vanishing completely. There’s a collective sigh of relief, but the air crackles and Anti is back, accompanied by his cat-masked acquaintance. Damien hadn’t seen Marvin much, the ego was weirdly classified, without any real characterization or powerset, and mostly just kept to himself.

Marvin looked around the room with a blank expression, then stared at Damien for a very long time, before focusing his attention on the District Attorney and Celine, then back to Damien.

“Ah, so _that’s_ what that spell did! Anti, I told you it must have affected _something_,” Marvin seems very pleased with himself, but Anti groans.

“You dumbass, I told ya not to cast anything from that book until you translated it! You’re lucky it only fucked up these guys and not our own,” Damien glares at Anti, but Marvin continues undeterred.

“I was curious! You know what they say about cats and all that. And this is absolutely fascinating! I can’t believe it was strong enough to not only break the first binds but it _also_ created temporary place holders for until the spell unraveled. That’s insane!” Marvin squints at the District Attorney for another moment, before suddenly running over to them and grabbing their arm.

“Is this the host body? You have to let me see your injuries, Darkiplier’s use of a body that wasn’t really his has always fascinated me, getting to see the original body is a dream come true!” The District Attorney politely shakes Marvin off of their arm, stepping close to Damien.

“No, thank you. I’d very much rather you not inspect my body, at all,” They smile politely, even when Marvin pouts a bit. 

“Fine, I’ll just have to ask Dark some other time,”

“The answer will _definitely_ still be no,” Damien says, then continues, “And, pardon me if this dampens your excitement, but can I remind you that this spell broke down our magic bonds and could have potentially destroyed our life essence?”

“Oh, uh, sorry about that part. But, don’t worry, to reverse the original spell, I just need to cast a simple incantation. Darkiplier will be put together before you can blink, let me just summon that book,”

“Wait, like right now?” Damien asks, not having expected it to just be a simple five-minute fix. He thought spell set up would at least buy him some more time.

“Yes, right now,” Marvin replies, spellbook appearing in his hand.

“Well, not right now, we promised Wilford he could say goodbye to Celine and the District Attorney,”

“Ugh, of course, you’d be sappy like that, gotta waste all my precious time,” Anti complains, dramatically plopping down onto the couch.

“What, did we interrupt a hot date with your knife?” Damien asks, sarcasm practically dripping off of his words.

Said knife appears in Anti’s hand, everyone briefly tensing before he begins to clean his nails with it. “Go on then, we can’t hang around all day,” 

Damien shakes his head but leaves the room, Celine and the District Attorney following as he leads them to the studio. He knows Google and Host will keep Anti and Marvin in check. Marvin may be strong, but no one outranked Host in terms of magical bullshit, and Google had been working on designing an anti-malware protocol specifically for dealing with Anti. He was still worried since it was just in the early stages of development, but Damien was confident it would stop Anti if need be.

So, they make their way to the studio, Damien waiting for the glowing red light outside to turn off before entering the studio. Wilford is yelling at the Jims; Bim is standing to the side, shaking his head as the twins argue their case.

“Pink Jim, this is the news of the century! Big Boss Jim’s weird magic issues must be documented!” One of the twins, Damien has no clue which is which when they aren’t carrying recording equipment or a microphone, is trying his hardest to bring Wilford to their side.

“Absolutely not, in fact, weird magic stuff is absolutely the sort of thing we don’t speak about. Anyways, Dark isn’t having issues, he’s just controlling his aura differently,” Wilford explains to them like they’re stupid, and Bim is clearly biting back a response, though Damien isn’t sure which side Bim would be arguing for.

“He’s right, Jims. I’m vetoing that idea, you’ll have to find another leading story,” Damien speaks up as they approach the set.

“Big Boss Jim, this is the biggest story around here in ages!”

“Have you even done a story on the new egos yet? They’ve been around for weeks now, and you haven’t interviewed any of them?” Both of the Jims gasp, overdramatic as they realize that they had missed an opportunity to harass new people. Eric had cried for hours after the Jims followed him around trying to ask him questions, the new ones would probably be fine, though. Damien was willing to bet that Illinois would even enjoy it. 

“Of course! Thank you, Big Boss Jim, we’ll get right on that,” One Jim grabs his camera, the other the microphone, and they both waddle/crab-walk/whatever-they-call-that-ridiculous-method-of-moving out of the studio, presumably to hunt down and harass the three new egos. Damien almost feels guilty for sending them to traumatize some very young egos just to cover up his own issues, but it’s necessary. 

“So, I take it you two are getting ready to head out?” Wilford addresses the District Attorney and Celine after he finishes shaking his head at their subordinates. The two nod, earning a sad smile from Wilford. “Bim, take a break in the dressing room,”

Bim waves before making himself scarce, smartly not testing any boundaries.

“There really isn’t any way you could stay longer? I feel we’ve barely gotten to catch up,” Wilford chuckles, but his eyes show actual sadness.

“I’m sorry, Will, there really isn’t anything we can do. It really has been good to see you,” Damien is surprised that Celine actually sounds sincere as she sadly smiles. Wilford pulls her into a tight hug, releasing her quickly. He turns to the District Attorney, grabbing their shoulder affectionately.

“There’s a lot of things I owe you an apology for, friend. I hope you can forgive me someday,” Damien isn’t sure if Wilford was apologizing for lunch yesterday, or maybe he’s apologizing for the other gun-related incident he and the District Attorney have gone through.

“I hope I’ll get to see you again, Wilford,” they hug Wilford, a little longer than how he had embraced Celine, and Wilford is grinning when they separate.

“Remember, you two are always welcome here! We’ve always got spare rooms ready for you,” he pats Damien on the back while speaking. “Dames, you’ll show them out? Bim and I have a grand opportunity to get some recording done with the Jims out of our hair,” 

Damien smiles at his friend. “Of course. I’ll be seeing you later,” Wilford waves cheerily as the three exit the studio, Damien can hear him shouting for Bim before the door closes. He lets out a deep sigh as they head back to the living room, preparing himself for the unpleasantry that will be coming.

Celine stops him before they get to the living room, holding his hand for a minute. “You’re making the right choice,”

“I hope so,” he sighs as they walk back into the room.


	8. Chapter 8

“So, you’re ready to undo the spell?” Marvin asks as they come back in. Anti hasn’t moved from his spot on the couch, which is definitely for the best.

“I suppose we are,” Damien says, turning to face Celine and the District Attorney properly. “I’m sorry for all the things you two have had to put up with,”

“This is the most excitement I’ve had in a long while, don’t apologize for it!” The District Attorney responds, actual happiness on their face.

“And it’s nice to get to stretch actual legs every once in a while,” Celine adds, smiling fondly at her brother.

The District Attorney reaches out, drawing Damien into a close hug. “Really, this is for the best. I’m okay with it, so don’t worry about me, alright?”

“Alright,” Damien agrees quietly, still unable to believe that he’s willing to put them back into that mirror. Unable to think that they’re _willing_ to go back to that mirror, just for the siblings that put them there in the first place. They cup his face tenderly as they pull back, smiling even though there are tears in their eyes.

“I’m happy you have a real family, Damien,” they say, quietly enough that no one else can hear them. Damien can’t help but throw his arms around them, dragging them into a bone-crushing hug. He ignores Anti’s fake gagging, appreciating his last few moments with his friend.

“I may not have a body, but I’ll still be around, so you better not do anything stupid. You are my baby brother; after all, I have the right to lecture you when you’re dumb,” Celine says, moving to hug him after the District Attorney backs away.

“Oh please, you’re only older by ten minutes,” Damien grumbles, falling into the familiar pattern.

“Which is long enough for me to be in charge. So, don’t be stupid while I’m asleep,” Celine instructs, using the Big Sister Voice that left no room for argument. He shakes his head slightly, but lets the subject drop, turning to face the magician.

“Well, are you ready?” Damien asks. 

Anti snorts, “Yeah, we’re the ones you’re waiting on,” but Marvin just nods, looking solemn as he holds his book open. 

“Let’s see…. It’ll probably best if you three are holding hands, probably in the center of the room, uh, and let’s have everyone back up a bit, give them a little room, the reformation might be more intense than the separation was,” everyone obeys Marvin’s instructions, he nods once he’s satisfied with how they’re standing. “Now then,”

Marvin begins muttering under his breath, the sounds Damien can make out aren’t any human tongue that he knows. He feels his gut twist, clenches down on Celine and the District Attorney’s hands-

And then he’s shifting his shoulders, cracking his neck. This is definitely Dark’s body, that’s for sure. It feels like coming home, which is strange considering it wasn’t his body to begin with. 

“Oh, thank god,” Marvin sighed with relief, earning a glare from Dark. 

“You seriously cast _another_ spell on us when you weren’t sure of the effects?” He growls, a loud ringing reverberation as shadows begin to sweep around him. Damn, it felt good to have that back.

“Calm yer tits, it was that or let your energy fade, you prick,” Anti grumbles, glitching off of the couch. “If that’s all, I think we’ll be heading out-”

“Wait a moment. Marvin, do you happen to have any books that contain information on mirrors?”

The magician scratches his head, thinking. “Probably? I’d have to do some digging through my collection,”

“I’d greatly appreciate it if you could do that for me,” Dark says, sounding as sincere as he gets.

“Sure, I’ll let you know,” Marvin responds, and then the air crackles as the two flicker out of the living room, presumably back to their own place of residence.

“Well, the Host is completely over all the excitement, he announces,” the tension in the room seems to break at that, Dr. Iplier chuckling and Dark rolling his eyes. Google just continues frowning.

“If my services are no longer needed, I’ll be taking my leave,” Google says, excusing himself to go and do… whatever it is an android does in his free time. 

“Dark, you’ll probably want to check in on Wilford, right? And maybe call a meeting?” Dr. Iplier suggests.

“None of the events of the last few days change the fact that I’m in charge here, Iplier,” Dark nearly growls, “But, you’re right. Gather anyone you can find for an emergency meeting,” 

Dr. Iplier nods, grabbing Host’s hand and leaving follow his instructions. It feels more natural to boss people around when he has his demonic aura.

Dark heads off to the studio, stopping by his office, digging into a drawer to pull out an old picture. The smiling face of the District Attorney stares back at him. “I won’t worry about you, friend. But I’ll bring you back someday,”

He promises the portrait what he couldn’t guarantee the human, having not wanted to risk lying to their face if he continued to fail at getting them out.

Wilford was happy to see Dark’s demonic face, saying, “Really, it suits you much better,” though Dark feels it wasn’t as complimentary as his friend meant it to be.

“We have an emergency meeting to attend, to address everything that’s been going on,” Dark says, deciding to avoid trying to reply to Wilford’s greeting.

“You’re much bossier when you’ve got the aura, though, you know that?” Wilford slings his arms over Dark’s shoulder as they exit the studio, ignoring Bing and Bim openly gawking as they walk past. 

“Oh, I’m aware. I like it,”

“It really does suit you, you’ve always been the bossy sort,” Wilford continues casually, not releasing his hold even when Dark makes a half-assed attempt at shrugging him off.

“Yes, and you’ve always been the sort to have a ridiculous mustache,” Dark answers, almost smiling at the hearty laugh he earns from Wilford as they enter the meeting room. It’s crowded, they practically never have full meetings, only inviting the older and more popular ones for most discussions. But, a lot of people were involved or heard gossip surrounding all that has gone on the last few days, and Dark needs to address it.

He waits a few more minutes for the last stragglers, glaring as Bing skateboards into the room, last, as usual.

“Well, if we’re all here, let’s begin. There’s much to discuss,”

And the room quiets down, listening as their leader explains, a slightly untruthful version of the last few days, clearing up any gossip and rumors. The room clears out quickly when Dark calls an end to the meeting, including Wilford hurrying back to the recording studio. Dark frowns as he’s left alone with the Host, who is smiling serenely. 

“The Host knows that Darkiplier is anxious without his companions, after having been with them for nearly two days straight, but the Host assures him that he doesn’t need to fret. It’s just some simple Separation Anxiety,”

And Dark has no idea why the Host looks so smug as he finishes his last sentence, but he’s long learned to not question when the Host said strange things like that.

Host’s response of “to please the audience,” was always more frustrating and creepy than anything else, anyways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year! I hope you all enjoyed this story, this is my first time completing a multi chapter fic so I’m pretty proud right now lol. Thanks for all the kudos and comments, they’re all so appreciated!


End file.
